Crystal Dangerfield’s coach at Blackman says the highly touted point guard isn’t concerned with stats or personal accolades.
Blackman junior Crystal Dangerfield was the best player on the best team in the state of Tennessee.
She was also regarded as the best player in the state and one of the tops in the country.
Seeing that is easy. Getting her to admit it is not.
“I don’t agree with the best player on the team type deal, because every player on the team was an important piece to our team,” said Dangerfield, The Tennessean’s girls player of the year for 2015. “It wasn’t just one person. It would be someone new every night. We have a lot of talent on our team, and it just came down to who showed up that night.”
Blackman head coach Chad Hibdon said that’s just how the Tennessee Gatorade Player of the Year is.
“She’s not concerned with her stats or any personal accolades,” Hibdon said. “What she’s concerned with is winning basketball games and being a part of a team that celebrates everybody’s talents and everybody’s piece of the puzzle, and that’s what she really loves.”
Blackman’s Crystal Dangerfield wins Gatorade award
True to form, Dangerfield, who also won the Midstate player of the year award as a sophomore, said she owes her success to her teammates.
“It just shows that they have a lot of trust in me and my experience being on the court,” she said. “That’s very important. You always have to have a supporting cast at every position.”
Dangerfield helped Blackman bring home its second consecutive Class AAA state title with a 58-54 double-overtime victory over city rival Oakland while leading the high-powered Lady Blaze in scoring, assists and free throw percentage.
“It’s just as special, if not more special, because it’s just showing that I’m improving my game over the course of these years,” Dangerfield said. “It just helps (my confidence) a little bit because it means I’m doing good things, and I need to keep it up.”
“She’s just intrinsically a competitor,” Hibdon added. “Self-driven, self-motivated. She wants to compete at everything so much that I feel that she hates losing as much as she loves winning, if not more, and those are the kind of players you want.”
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One thing that helps Dangerfield with her success on and off the court is her mindset.
“People tell me to act with a business-like demeanor so I try to carry myself that way and take that out onto the basketball floor,” Dangerfield said.
When Dangerfield departs Blackman to join Geno Auriemma and the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team after her senior year next season, Hibdon will lose one of the best players he’s ever had. Hibdon wouldn’t say where Dangerfield ranked as far as girls he’s had the opportunity to coach, but he made it clear he will miss her when she leaves.
“I don’t rank them, but Crystal is one of those girls who you just cherish and love,” Hibdon said. “She’s one of a kind. They don’t make them like that. She’s not perfect by any means, but her heart is perfect and her work ethic is perfect.”
Reach Sam Brown at 615-259-8232 and on Twitter @SamBrownTN.
